John D. Millett

Enterprise-Operations and Administration: Some Notes on a Systematic Theory of Organized Endeavor

PERIODICALLY, in every science-that is, in every field of descriptive, theoretical, and applied knowledge-the scholars and the practitioners are tempted to set down a synthesis of their learning and experience. The effort is always fraught with danger. A statement of systematic theory is a highly generalized abstraction. It is at best a suggestive interpretation of reality; it is at worst a collection of pious platitudes or even a pronouncement of dogma.

The Organizational Structure of the Army Service Forces

T HE Army Service Forces has many different jobs to perform, from procuring supplies to providing recreational facilities, from dispatching messages to transporting troops, from running hospitals to keeping prisoners of war. There are all the tasks to do for military society that in the civilian world private enterprise and government combine to perform for the individual. The organization of so many diverse activities with their innumerable ramifications was a challenging undertaking. In working out the organizational structure there were numerous possible bases of dividing up these responsibilities. The most ready choice was to let each specialty go its own way, developing its program without concern for other needs. There